86 Cobalt

Started this project in early fall, hope to have it done before summer. I want to make this seating like a wake boat with a sun deck, has anyone come across any balance problems with this? Also does anybody know somewhere to get used parts other than ebay? Thanks

Re: 86 Cobalt

Are you saying that it has the engine dog house with the seats on the side of the dog house, instead of the bench seat across the back? You might want to search round and see if Cobalt sold that model with a rear bench and sunpad, and how it was set up.
When I re-did the interior on my Four Winns, it had the sun pad, rear bench seat and front bucket seats, the rear bench was replaced by coolers by a previous owner, and were too high. I did some research and found that Wise makes a line of seating for pontoon boats that worked out great in this application. I was able to get matching buckets for the helm and left front passanger and matching rear benches ( used 2 36" benches to span the full 72" width of the bench). It was probably cheaper than having the old stuff re-upolstered, esp at Long Island labor rates. I had to have the front cushions re-done at a shop, looks good now.

Re: 86 Cobalt

seats look like they came with the boat, nice job. sounds alot easier than most projects too...gotta like that.

Re: 86 Cobalt

That looks great. They did make the sun pad and rear bench on my boat, I want to make it like a wake boat for skiing. I'll post pics when I figure out how to shrink the pictures

Re: 86 Cobalt

fire...go to photo bucket...and down load them then hit edit...resize to 640 x whatever it is...message board size....and copy the img code...then just past it on your reply or post.

Re: 86 Cobalt

Think I got it now, The sun deck will replace the doghouse with a bench in front and a bench along the port side up to the glove box.

Re: 86 Cobalt

What you are going to need to do, is mount your front seats (helm and port front pass) to see how much room you have behind them. I see you mentioned a bench on the port side, another easy way is to use 2 captains chairs mounted on pedestals, like I did, and turn the port one around facing backward for your spotter, you just have to make sure when you mount the pedestal that you locate it so that the seat can swivel around backward.

When you make the sunpad, you will need to figure out a way to mount the hinges to the 'glass that will be solid, the sun pad on my boat is made out of 3/4 in ply and is pretty heavy. It raises up on 2-60 lb gas struts. The other thing is how you want to deal with the bench seat. You can build a bulkhead and seat base (bulkhead forms the back of the seat) out of 3/4 in plywood and have it upolstered, or try taking measurements to see of any of the Wise benches that I used will fit in that space. If you find you are getting tight for space, making your own bench may work out better, since you can size it exactly to the room you have. Mine has the bulkhead that goes across the whole width of the boat, then the benches are right in front of it. I attached a 2x2 piece of wood to the upper edge of the bulkhead that supports the front piece of the sunpad. In addition, there are side panels that mount to the floor, rear 'glass and the bulkhead. They also help support the sun pad. I install these with large machine screws held with wing nuts to make it easy to remove to work on the engine.
Honestly though, the design with the dog house makes it easier to work on the engine with less dissassembly, I remove the side panels, and slide the seats foward when I winterize the boat. Plus keep in mind, that this alteration is going to add weight for sure, compared to what it is now.

In this pic you can see the 2 strips on either side of the engine, the side panels (3/4 in ply) attach to them, the rear glass (see the holes) and also the bulkhead. They have cleats on them with holes drilled thru to accept the srews with wing nuts to make removal fast.

Re: 86 Cobalt

I'll probably do the same with building the bulkhead and attaching with wing nuts for easy removal. I've removed everything out of the boat, got it on the trailer and hope to start building the sun pad and bench today. How much did your sun pad cost to upholster?

Re: 86 Cobalt

The boat came with it, what Four Winns calls Sunsport Seating. I wound up re-doing it because the prior owner trashed the seat bottom and put in these coolers with cushions on top because he used it to fish. They were too high and real uncomfortable to sit on. So I could have built another seat bottom and had my upholstestry shop do it, but here labor is expensive and the cost of the 2 Wise bench seats was about the same, and they matched the front buckets I already had replaced a couple of years ago perferctly.
What is the overall length of your Cobalt, my FW 200 Horizon is 20'9" overall, it's actually about a foot longer than the model they call the 200 Horizon now.

Re: 86 Cobalt

18 ft overall length, I'd like to go the most cost effective way, but I want the new boat look without buyin a new boat. This past summer I seen a redone renkin with a sun pad and bench, it was a late 80's version and it looked as good if not better than the new caravelle I was riding in. I know boats can be a money pit, so I'm trying to be cautious. I've got an upholstery guy that works pretty cheap. If I get everything done at once he should give me a better deal.

Re: 86 Cobalt

Hey Lou, have you had any issues with your OMC cobra outdrive? I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy the repair manual off ebay so I have a clue about OMC cobras.

Re: 86 Cobalt

midsouthfire said:

Hey Lou, have you had any issues with your OMC cobra outdrive? I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy the repair manual off ebay so I have a clue about OMC cobras.

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Well despite what you sometimes here 'round these parts, the Cobra, if set up and maintained right, is a good drive. Mine is 20 years old and it's needed some repairs, but not much for the age, and salt water moorage and use. Mostly it's needed seals replaced, a bearing carrier on the lower unit because of some corrosion, that's about it. Same upper and lower gears and clutch dog the whole time I had it. When I first got it, it shifted into gear fine, didn't jump out of gear, but would not shift to neutral reliably. I took it to the best OMC I/O repair place around here and they got it shifing great. I think the problem was that crud had built up in the pocket of the pivot housing where the shift cable comes out, and that was causing it to not release all the way.
Get the manual (OE) and read the Stuart Hastings website on Cobras. If you change the gear oil, make sure you do it the OMC way, they take 64 oz of gear oil. Do a search, I have posted the procedure a couple of times. As long as you can get parts (Sierra makes a lot of parts for Cobras) and can get some one to set the cable right the first time for you, they are a good drive.

Re: 86 Cobalt

Thanks, great info. I'll post photos as I start putting it back together.

Re: 86 Cobalt

what you are going to do is the EXACT reason i extended the hull on mine.

you could build it out of plywood....regular plywood...and a self uph job wouldnt be hard......but if you have a buddy....!

just make sure you can lift the section to get at the engine.....im also adding an additional lift area for the canopy/top.

good luck...it will be nice

cheers
oops

Re: 86 Cobalt

Thanks oops......what you're are doin is WAY above my head. Lookin forward to see your progress.